As an adult it is sometimes easy to dismiss just how stressful exams can be for school students, especially with competition becoming more and more cutthroat over time. Exam anxiety is very real and can take a toll on students – more on some than others.
With the exam season approaching, White Swan Foundation – which works in the field of mental health – has released a handy eBook that students can use to identify exam anxiety, when they need to seek help, and contains tips on how to manage exam stress. Called Managing Exam Stress, the book is available for free download online, and comes with worksheets so that students can reflect on their challenges and plan their strategy for the tests as well.
The eBook is based on White Swan Foundation’s interactions with over 650 teachers across 32 schools as part of their School Mental Health Program, where they focused on insights about the need to address students’ emotional distress. The book has been put together with the help of experts in the field of adolescent mental health.
“The eBook is based on our interactions with several stakeholders. We’re sure it will immensely help students and their parents look at exams without feeling stressed about it,” said White Swan Foundation CEO Manoj Chandran.
Managing Exam Stress is written in simple language, and helps students identify when stress becomes harmful. It also tells them the symptoms of exam stress – physical symptoms like tightness in muscles, insomnia and increased heart rate among others; behavioural signs like being fidgety and blanking out; and emotional signs like mood swings that are abnormal for that individual, feelings of frustration, and hopelessness.
The worksheets in the eBook allow students to jot down what they feel – like three things they feel stressed out about during exams, people they can talk to, formulating short-term and mini-goals for any two subjects using the tips to manage studies and time given, etc.
There are also useful sections on the helplines they can reach out to, and some simple breathing exercises they can do to ease anxiety and so on.
School counsellor Radhika S D’Costa, who reviewed the eBook, said, “It is important for students to learn to manage their time well, to put in regular effort, to take care of their physical health, and to balance out social media use. Parents and teachers can support students by teaching them these skills, by not unduly pressuring them, and by providing the children with positive stress management skills. This booklet is an important guide and one that students, parents and teachers need to engage with, to help students achieve their potential.”
The eBook can be downloaded here.